Monday, October 31, 2011

This weekend, six intrepid rez dogs traveled far from home to a wildly remote – and secret – part of the Colorado Plateau to complete an epic high desert slick rock ride. A report:

1. “WE’RE GOING ALL THE WAY TOMORROW”. Saturday night, before things got wild, Chuck Van Drunen pronounced, “We’re going all the way tomorrow. We’ve been courting this ride for three long years and we’ve been to second base and third base, but tomorrow we are going all the way.” After four or five reconnoitering trips by different groups of guys that established both ends of the route, the vast middle section remained untouched by rez dogs. During our scouting rides we’ve encountered herds of wild horses, gale force winds, a band of yelping coyotes, a surreal thunderstorm, a stoic local standing guard on a knoll with a rifle . . . and bleached bones that serve as a stark warning to the unprepared. Through it all, we have come to know, respect and love this route. Yes, it truly was time to go all the way.

2.PETER’S PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION. Two hours into the ride on Sunday the pack – Chuck, Peter Tempest, Greg Cavanaugh, Andy Stravers, Paul Barry and Bob Rosebrough – regrouped and Peter said, “I have a philosophical question.” All eyes turned to Peter: “Should we disclose the location of this ride on the blog?” Bob: “That’s just what I’ve been thinking about. I’m inclined not to.” Chuck: “Hell, no! We’re not going to disclose it on the blog.” A discussion followed of the practical and ethical reasons why the route should remain a secret with heads nodding all around and the decision was made. The location will remain a guarded secret: no mention of location on the blog and even scrutiny of panorama photos.

3.PAUL: “LET’S DO MORE EPIC RIDES AND LESS RACING.” Earlier in the week, at the Third Street Tavern, after the Wednesday night ride and storm, Paul – who has done more racing than any of us – suggested, “Next year, let’s do more epic rides and fewer races.” Paul followed up with specific examples of the fantastic rides that are available to us in the Southwest. This weekend’s ride was exactly what Paul was talking about:

·an elevated sea of slick rock extending for miles,

·endless opportunities for exploring,

·a six hour and forty five minute effort from beginning to end, and

·a sense of real adventure fostered by the absence of tire tracks, trail signs or cairns for a twenty five mile plus section of the route.

4.RANDOM REMBERANCES FROM AN EPIC WEEKEND:

·A surprise celebration of Peter’s 49th birthday Saturday night with a cake (decorated with image of the Bread Springs loop sheep - of course) and ice cream on a canyon rim under a sea of stars,

·A wild, nighttime romp down and back up a desert canyon highlighted by perfect echoes off the walls at the bottom and a rare sighting of a ring tail cat poking his head over the lip a huge boulder to reflect our headlamps with his eyes,

·Chuck peering into the distance, at lunch on the lip of the rim, and announcing that he spotted Dirk on his road bike fifteen miles to the south on the highway,

·Six HUGE camel backs including (if you can believe this) what appeared to be a 35-compartment-Gallup-Flea-Market-camelback at FULL capacity, and

·Chuck – who had been spinning and exploring – giving in to the call of the dark side by incrementally dialing up the speed and dishing out the pain after we got off slick rock and hit the road leading to the shuttle truck (“You never know what a road will do to your soul.”), and

·Paul giving an instructional lesson on English slang to the blokes on the way back home.

A CONCLUDING QUESTION:

How do you assure that you get individual blog attention? Simple. Greg hit on a sure fire way Saturday at Chuck’s house, just before departure, when he mistakenly thought Bob’s attention was diverted and he said, “My primary objective this weekend is to lay low so I don’t get on the blog.” Not quite low enough Greg, but as Paul would say, “Nice try mate.”

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Zuni 50/100: the long shadows and crisp air of fall in New Mexico and a gathering of the New Mexico endurance racing community. A report:

1.THE BEST – HANDS DOWN! Through the efforts of the remarkable Gallup Trails 2010 directors and volunteers, the Zuni 50/100 has become – hands down – the premier endurance race in New Mexico. No other race on the endurance series is even remotely close. Aside from the great course and the fresh fall weather, the Zuni 50/100 features a huge free meal, a bike swap, a home brew contest and live bands. And beyond that, the race provides a sense of community for New Mexico endurance racing. No wonder the race has been designated the New Mexico endurance championship and is the only race in the endurance series that has to close registration to stay under the Forest Service permit limit.

2.FAST TIMES ON LONGER COURSE. The Zuni 50/100 course has, in years past, really only been a 43/86 +/- mile race. This year about five miles per lap were added by going down Berma Trial after finishing Quasimodo and climbing back up on Stuck Truck Trail. In spite of the longer 48/96 +/- mile course, there were a record 8 finishers (all male) on the long course – including 5 single speeders. The top male finisher was pro rider Cameron Brenneman who put in some amazing times: 4:15 for the first lap and 9:01 for the full long course. Krista Park, another top pro, was the first female finisher at 4:43 for the short course.

3.PAUL REELS BOB IN. Five Rez Dogs rode the 50 mile course this year. Bob Rosebrough started out early with the idea that he and Paul Barry would meet toward the end of the course and finish up together. It’s a good thing Bob got a big head start, because Paul torched the first two thirds of the course. Paul caught Bob on the brutal Tampico Springs climb and they rode in together as planned. Brian Leddy (who came away with the best deals of the evening at the bike swap) and Jack Hawley (who was seen cruising around on a fat tire unicycle before the race) started out together and also finished the 50 course as did Paul DeWitt (who spearheaded the home brew contest). Paul B. finished a few minutes over 5 hours after easing up on the last third of the course and Bob, Brian, Jack and Paul D. all finished at just over 6 hours.

4.DIRK INSTIGATES A POACHING EPIDEMIC. We need to have a talk about Dirk Hollebeek. Not only does he seem intent on luring some naïve, innocent Rez Dogs to the dark side of road biking, but it also appears that Dirk started an epidemic of poaching with his abhorrent behavior at the Screamer. Greg Cavanaugh, Doug Evilsizor, Chuck Van Drunen and Alan Philips – all previously law abiding citizens (Okay, well . . . maybe not Chuck) - each showed up at the race venue and took off on rides without having registered. I’m thinking that this guy Dirk isn’t going to let up until every Rez Dog has shaved legs and a chip-on-the-shoulder roadie attitude.

5.BOB DODGES A BULLET. After flirting with the idea of getting a 34-compartment-Gallup-flea-market-camelback like Chuck, Bob apparently came to his senses. He rode Saturday with a new, shiny REI camelback. Whew . . . that was perilously close to disaster. There is simply no one but Chuck who has the panache to pull off the flea market camelback thing. Bob clearly doesn’t have the huevos to do it and every man needs to know his limitations.

6.PETER AND THE BREADSPRINGS LOOP SHEEP VERGING ON VIRAL. If you recall, back in July we told you – in the race report on the Leadville Silver Rush 50 – that the story of Peter and his arch nemesis was destined to spread beyond Gallup. A couple of minutes after Bob finished on Saturday, a single speed racer from Colorado Springs told Bob that another Colorado Springs cyclist had forwarded him the link to the Rez Dog blog report on the backyard pursuit races and Peter’s clash with the foam board version of the Breadsprings Sheep. Combine this with the fact that our Rez Dog Racing blog is now a featured link on the popular Back of the Pack Racing blog and it’s clear that the story of Peter and his arch nemesis is on the verge of going viral. It’s just too good to keep under wraps. The only thing Rez Dog Racing is missing right now is a Go Pro video camera. The video of the South African rider getting creamed by an antelope has 8 million You Tube hits and even made network news. If we had captured Peter T-boning the Bread Springs loop sheep on a Go Pro video, he would already be an international icon today.

A CONCLUDING QUESTION: Paul was expecting Chuck to show up by 9:30 to ride the 50 course, but when Chuck didn’t show, eventually Paul started without him. Did Night Guy finally write a pre-race check that was too big for Morning Guy to cover? Just asking.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

It was that time again . . . to suffer intensely in four minutes bursts, to put away burgers and beer, and to sit around a fire pit and rehash the highlights of a fantastic year of cycling. A report from the 2011 backyard pursuit races:

1.BOBCAT’S RETURN. Andy “Bobcat” Stravers, the original backyard pursuit champion, returned to form to retake his throne over a strong field of local heroes. Peter Tempest was a close second and Paul Barry was a very strong third on a fast course that featured improved banking on the turns and some spicy, new mid course rollers.

2.RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS:

a.The ladies came to ride this year! Jenny Van Drunen, Holly Herr, Eryn Hannick, Julie Bussewitz and Naomi Bruinius all rode well this year, but had some trouble staying on the course. We’ll blame it on course marshals Chuck Van Drunen and Bobcat and say that they let the women run amuck.

b.Chuck completely took Peter by surprise at the end of his narrow semifinal win over Paul. As Peter rounded the 180 degree downhill turn around the juniper at the finish, he faced a foam board replica of the dreaded Bread Springs loop sheep. Peter T-boned the facsimile of his arch-nemesis, went over the bars and almost busted another rib – this time from laughing so hard.

c.Greg Cavanaugh – the driving force behind the blog and this year’s jerseys and sponsors – completed an organizational tour-de-force by handing out awards for races completed and podium finishes and showed photos and videos from the season.

d.Dirk Hollebeek spoke with such fireside passion about the Mount Diablo Hill Climb and the Valley of the Sun Stage race that you could literally see hard core, fat tire junkies being enticed over to the dark side as he spoke. It appeared that a few were even looking around for a razor so that they could shave their legs!

e.Chuck followed Dirk with equal passion to advocate that each member of the pack should buy a thirty three-compartment-Gallup-Flea-Market-camelback, but he seemed to come up empty on that one.

f.A pack of Rez Puppies swarmed the playground, basketball court, and – after dark – roamed the course with head lamps and flashlights.

g.On the perpetual topic of “what’s next?”, the Zuni 50, completing the Rock Point to Many Farms route, Narbona pass and cross country skiing with Paul in Mancos garnered most of the talk.

A CONCLUDING QUESTION: What was special about this season? We’ll answer this one. There were a lot of things that were special, but one thing stands out above the rest. Simply put, “Every dog had his day.”

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

It is now official!! As Rez Dogs we have long known about Chuck Van Drunen’s dual personalities: Night Guy and Morning Guy. Night Guy is, of course, the guy who stayed up late the night before Dawn til Dusk pounding down beer while Paul built out his bike and then in Crested Butte lead the late night escapades that almost landed everyone in jail. Night Guy is the guy who makes the promises - writes the checks - that Morning guy has to cash.

Well . . . the 2011 New Mexico Off Road Series final results are now in and they officially recognize Chuck’s dual personalities. In the NMORS final standings for Cat 1 30+ Chuck is listed in 8th place with 62 points AND in 22nd place with 22 points. No joke! To check it out go to NMCycling.org and click on Results, then NMORS 2011 and then M Cat 1, 30-39.

The NMORS final standings do not say which of the two Chucks was in 8th place and which one was in 22nd place but we all know – without a doubt - that it is Morning Guy who finished in 8th. He’s the guy, after all, who cashes the checks. The only real surprise is that Night Guy broke into the standings at all.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Overview:
Taking the cake for most successful season, Bob Rosebrough with a podium spot in all but one race this season!
Nipping at his heals, Chuck Van Drunen and Nightguy come through with the most races for the season at 12! (with some impressive results as well)
Setting the stage (pun intended) for the Rez Dog multi-state road racing scene, is Dirk Hollebeek with road races in Arizona, Michigan, and California!
As always, the infamous Rez Dog founder Peter Tempest (surgeon at large), ups the ante by taking Rez Dog's national by competing at the US Marathon National Championships!
Bobcat came out of retirement this season to nestled his way back into the pack with solid results in all of his races.
Joining the ranks this year was Paul Barry, rocking his Tomac in both XC and Endurance races, and chopping at the bit to wreak some havoc next year!
Sure to get his money's worth out of his new Diplomat, new daddy, Kevin Zwiers, rocked the 24ITEF and had a strong last minute showing at the Screamer.
Chad, The Ghost, Meekof while light on the racing calendar, pretty much proceeded to crush his way into the top podium spot of all bike related events he entered...no doubt he'll be out for blood at Bob's pursuits.
I (Greg) had a strong early season start with D2D, 24ITEF and Socorro only to go off the racing grid for months after my son was born. In a brief state of delirium I made an appearance at the Sandia peak challenge, only to find myself sitting on the side of the trail...(more on that if you ask the right person)